April 9, 2012

Don't
we all dream of lounging around in our pjs eating ice cream on a
weekday? Well, my boy Otis had Spring Break last week, and that is just
what he did.

Otis can groove with some serious
savory cooking and he is a master when it comes to chopping veg, but he
also swoons for making sweets. Fresh Mint Chip Ice Cream seemed like a
good way for us to celebrate the Easter Break, the green explosion of
spring, and our bountiful backyard mint patch.

Otis
says this is the best ice cream he has ever tasted (and we all know that
11-year-olds are ice cream experts!) I personally think the whole
recipe is quite dangerous. I found myself wanting to slurp the minty
custard before I even froze the stuff - need I say more?

Warm
milk, 1 cup of cream, sugar, and salt in a medium sauce pan, over
medium heat. Stir to melt sugar. When sugar has dissolved, add mint
leaves to the pan. When everything is hot and steamy, remove the pan
from the heat. Cover, and let the mint leaves steep in the warm milk
for an hour.

After an hour of steeping, pour the minty
milk mixture through a strainer into a medium mixing bowl. Using the
back of a wooden spoon, press down on the mint in the strainer to
release as much flavor as you can, then toss out the mint leaves and
wash your strainer. Return infused milk to the medium sauce pan and
rewarm over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.

(Pour the remaining cup of cream into a large mixing bowl. Place strainer over the top of the bowl, and set aside.)

Whisk
egg yokes in a separate, smallish bowl. Pour a ladle or two of the
warm infused milk into the yokes and whisk to integrate. Then pour all
of the yokes into the sauce pan with the warmed minty milk. Stir
continuously with a spatula and cook custard, over medium heat, until
it begins to thicken. (Lebovitz says the mixture is done when it
reaches 170 degrees, or is thick enough to coat the spatula.)

Pour
custard through the strainer into the large mixing bowl holding the
cream. Stir. Place mixing bowl over an ice bath and continue stirring
until the custard has cooled. Transfer to a covered container.
Refrigerate for two hours, or even overnight, then freeze in your ice
cream maker, following the manufacturers instructions.

While your ice cream maker is working its magic, put a storage container into the freezer to chill.

When
your ice cream machine is done, pull the chilled storage container
from the freezer and drizzle some melted chocolate across the bottom.
Then add some ice cream to the container. Then drizzle more chocolate
over the ice cream. Use a spoon to break up the mixture and you will
have nice broken streaks of chocolate (homemade chocolate chips!)
running throughout the ice cream. Continue adding layers of ice cream
and drizzled chocolate. Place your now marbleized ice cream into the
freezer to firm up again before serving.

Enjoy!

My talented friend and fellow blogger, Phyllis Grant of Dash and Bella, recently posted a recipe for Mint Stracciatella Ice Cream.
If you don't already follow her blog already, you should - everything
she does is delish and I imagine her ice cream is no exception!

88 comments:

Erin - I am impressed with your son's cooking prowess. I adore mint ice cream and to make it homemade - even better. David L makes the best ice cream and I love his ice cream book. You reminded me that I need to whip up a batch of ice cream soon. Hope you had a wonderful Easter!!!

Ok, so mint chip ice cream in my absolute favorite. And you have taken it to a new level. Delicious and seemingly nutritious as well. I LOVE this blog and all the offerings is brings to my table and my tummy. Yummy!

Oh Erin, I am salivating at this recipe. I have not yet tried it but just seeing the photos and reading about Otie lounging around in his pj's is enough to make me ready to shop the ingredients tomorrow morning! Thank you for another enticing blog, you are my inspiration....

Oooh I LOVE this recipe!! It's so delicious, I made it the summer before last with some homemade cones. So it's good to see you've found it! (And yes, you are in trouble - I've never made a dud Lebovitz ice cream!) Love the photos too.

I've made David's mint chip ice cream before so I know how good this tastes! Plus you've managed to make it look even more delicious in your photos. Could happily eat a big bowl of this right now...yum!

Ice cream is one of my favorit Yum Yums. I so regret giving my ice cream maker away but I could only take so much with me when I moved. Chocolate chip is one of my favorits (I just love ice cream). I will have to try this out this summer (the plan is to save for another maker, do you have a favorite?) and when my son comes to visit....make a large batch of Coconut Milk Chocolate chip ice cream (dairy free).

Pictures are wonderful...love the speckled nose..what a handsome child.

Oli, I would love to make coconut milk ice cream - do you have a recipe you like. Coconut Bliss is so delish - if only I could make that at home.In terms of an ice cream maker, I have an old Krups that works just fine, but I don't know the best ones out there now. And you may want to check this out... http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2007/07/making-ice-crea-1/. You can also make ice cream without a machine. I've done sherbet this way and it was awesome!xoE

I have to say, I'm a recent convert to mint chip ice cream. I never liked the store-bought variety, but homemade with fresh mint is a different story entirely! Ah, to spend a day sitting around and eating ice cream...

Hey Stash, An ice cream maker is a nice tool to have around, but not necessary - especially if space is limited in your kitchen. Have you seen this post where David Lebovitz talks about making ice cream without a machine:http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2007/07/making-ice-crea-1/But yes, a minty flan would be so good! I'm telling you - that custard was so delish!Have a great weekend,E